Adrian Del Castillo smashes three bombs in one game

Overall, this season, Del Castillo has hit 20 home runs in 81 games. The 24-year-old catcher was drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 2nd round of the 2021 draft out of the University of Miami.

Among others in the Pacific Coast League, the slugger ranks 2nd in home runs (20), 1st in doubles (31), 1st in hits (106), 1st in runs scored (74), 1st in SLG (.636), and 1st in OPS (1.046).

A few weeks back, the Arizona Diamondbacks designated catcher Tucker Barnhart for assignment, setting up a situation where the D-backs have room for Del Castillo to find a way onto their catcher depth chart. While Jose Herrera currently serves as the backup behind Gabriel Moreno, Herrera has only seen 15 plate appearances this season, with three hits in those appearances.

In a recent opinion piece by Jonathan Mayo, Jim Callis, and Sam Dykstra at MLB.com, Del Castillo was highlighted as the most likely candidate within the Diamondbacks’ minor league system to be called up during the 2nd half of the 2024 season.

They highlighted, “With Triple-A Reno for a second straight season, Del Castillo hasn’t cooled off at one point in 2024 and enters Wednesday with a .335/.399/.630 line and 14 homers through 64 games. While some of that impressive slugging can be chalked up to Reno’s hitting environs, the backstop has the data to back it up with exit velocities and in-zone contact above the Triple-A average. If anything happens to Gabriel Moreno or Tucker Barnhart in the bigs, Del Castillo should be Arizona’s first call.”

While they were initially wrong about Del Castillo being Arizona’s first call with Barnhart now gone, as the Diamondbacks elected for extra pitching help instead, as Arizona’s offense continues to slump, Del Castillo serves as a reasonable solution